Bill Bartsch worked for the Suva office of the United Nations Development Programme in 1974. Together with Peter McQuarrie, he visited many of the islands in Tuvalu and the Gilbert Islands on a personal project to document the remains of war material from World War II. Early in 1974 he and Peter came to Nanumea, where Anne and Keith helped guide them to the wrecked planes and the vaka mutu on the reef. In this article, published in the South Pacific Bulletin in 1975, Bill describes his trip and his findings. Thanks to Peter McQuarrie for contacting Bill and scanning the article, and to Bill for permission to reproduce his work.

Top photo: Second World War LST on Nanumea's western reef - Photo by Keith, January 2004 (this hulk is gradually going back to the sea)

Some WWII Remains in Nanumea Today

Tail and fuselage of U.S. Douglas Dauntless SBD-5 dive bomber which crashed while landing on Nanumea's new airfield November 27, 1943. The pilot survived. Photo by David Vonnegut Chambers, December 2003

Further information on this plane and the remains of a B-24 bomber at Nanumea can be found on the Pacific Wrecks website

Bill Bartsch's articles (at left) also discuss this plane and its fate. The Pacific Wrecks report and other World War information for Nanumea and Tuvalu is also found in the Cannon family website, TuvaluIslands.Com.